Your Right to Know

A new Columbus commission will give the city charter — the city’s constitution — its first
thorough review in 16 years.

Mayor Michael B. Coleman and City Council President Andrew J. Ginther announced creation of the
Charter Review Commission yesterday to study the document that governs the city’s operation.
Ginther said that he and the mayor chose to begin it in a year with no municipal election so that
the review could focus on policy without the burden of politics.

It’s also the 100th anniversary of the charter’s adoption in 1914.

“The charter has served us pretty well,” Ginther said. “You always want to look for ways to
improve.”

The two most-recent charter reviews have had specific purposes, said Hugh J. Dorrian, the city
auditor and a member of the new commission. A 1999 review led to term limits for the city’s police
and fire chiefs. A review in 2010 ended with the city council gaining the ability to adjourn into
executive session to discuss sensitive matters. Before, all city-council meetings had to be open to
the public.

The most-recent thorough review came in 1998 and brought mostly minor revisions: adding
gender-neutral language throughout the charter, streamlining the nomination process for people
seeking city office, and clarifying which city employees can be hired and fired by their
supervisors.

“I have no preconceived agenda,” Dorrian said of the latest review. “I’m going to see what
suggestions are brought before us.”

The commission will be led by state Rep. Michael F. Curtin, a Democrat from Marble Cliff, and
Marchelle E. Moore, vice president of legal and governmental affairs and general counsel for the
Central Ohio Transit Authority. Curtin is the former associate publisher of
The Dispatch.

Other members are Dorrian; Jeff Cabot, executive director of Kids Voting Central Ohio; and Dawn
Tyler Lee, senior vice president of community impact for United Way of Central Ohio.

“I’m not sure what all is going to surface, but I think it’s healthy to have this review from
time to time,” Curtin said.

The commission plans to hold public meetings beginning this month. Any proposed changes would
require the approval of the city council and Columbus voters.